1. Field
This disclosure relates to methods of servicing a wellbore. More specifically, it relates to wellbore servicing fluids comprising degradable materials and methods of making and using same.
2. Background
Natural resources (e.g., oil or gas) residing in the subterranean formation may be recovered by driving resources from the formation into the wellbore using, for example, a pressure gradient that exists between the formation and the wellbore, the force of gravity, displacement of the resources from the formation using a pump or the force of another fluid injected into the well or an adjacent well. The production of fluid in the formation may be increased by hydraulically fracturing the formation. That is, a viscous fracturing fluid may be pumped down the wellbore at a rate and a pressure sufficient to form fractures that extend into the formation, providing additional pathways through which the oil or gas can flow to the well.
Unfortunately, water rather than oil or gas may eventually be produced by the formation through the fractures therein. To provide for the production of more oil or gas, a fracturing fluid may again be pumped into the formation to form additional fractures therein. However, the previously used fractures first must be plugged to prevent the loss of the fracturing fluid into the formation via those fractures.
Traditional fracturing operations, also termed plug and perforate operations, to increase the productivity of the subterranean formation employ a perforation of the subterranean formation followed by setting of a fracturing plug with typical operation times ranging from 3-5 hours. Additionally to achieve a user and/or process desired goal, the fracturing may need to be repeated numerous times resulting in lengthy equipment stand by times. Once the process is complete the fracturing plugs are typically removed, for example by drilling out. Alternative methods employ processes such as the ACESSFRAC PD service which utilizes perforation in conjunction with degradable diverting materials (e.g., BIOVERT NWB) and the resultant process provides numerous benefits in terms of reduced operation time, reduced equipment standby time, increased safety, reduced risk of premature setting of the fracturing plug, avoiding the need to drill out the plug before production and reducing the time for fluid flow back when compared to fracture plugs which set into place. While processes such as ACCESSFRAC PD provide advantages over the use of fracture plugs, one challenge in these operations is that the degradable diverting materials utilized also need to be removed prior to production. An ongoing need exists for improved compositions and methods for fracturing operations.